Carlos Tevez has had what public relations people describe as an eventful week, arrested for allegedly driving while disqualified and then bailed. Barnsley might have wished he was detained a little longer.

The energy and ingenuity he brings to teams can bamboozle the best and, hard though the Championship's bottom club tried yesterday, they would never be able to compete with Manchester City. No shame in that; Tevez can be magnificent and yesterday, granted the necessary space, he gathered a hat-trick and departed to a standing ovation.

His manager, Roberto Mancini, was relaxed enough to joke about his arrest:

'If this is the effect on him, I
hope that the police can stop him every day' - although, potentially,
Tevez could be jailed for flouting his ban. Mancini insisted it had not
crossed his mind to drop him, adding: 'I don't know about this [the
arrest]. It is only in the newspaper.

'We have not talked about it. I don't know if it is true or not. It is his problem. It is not our problem.'

Mancini and Tevez appeared to clash
after the striker was substituted in the 76th minute but the Italian
said: 'Carlos asked to come off. I asked him if he was all right and he
said he was.'

It seems an age ago that Mancini exiled Tevez and said that he would never play for the club again.

'For now it's important that he continues to score because we need his goals for the end of the season,' said the City manager.

'After this, in the summer, I don't know.

There we go: Tevez set Roberto Mancini's side on their way early on

Moving on: Tevez played in Aleksander Kolarov who drilled in to the bottom corner

'Carlos has another year's contact.
It depends on him. Many times he has said he wants to go back to
Argentina - but now we can't think about this.'

To be fair to Barnsley, they played
their part. The team got together for one-of those pre-match huddles,
led by captain Luke Steele, in which you try to convince yourself that
something extraordinary might occur.

Their fans turned up in impressive
numbers and roared when their team won a corner. The players sprinted
around in a display of collective commitment.

All the ingredients a humble FA Cup
giant-killer required were present. The illusion, however, lasted 11
minutes, and to no one's surprise.

This, after all, was a team that had
sunk to the foot of the Championship before kick-off, results elsewhere
going against them.

To see Tevez, David Silva and Yaya
Toure lining up against them felt almost like bad sportsmanship from
Mancini, as though he was not even going to allow the underdogs to
fulfil their role as plucky competitors.

It was also, of course, an indication of City's priorities, with the Premier League effectively out of reach.

Not long ago, making an FA Cup
semi-final at Wembley might have qualified a City team for an open-top
bus parade; yesterday it just felt routine.

But come the end of the season, the
FA Cup win might prove an acceptable fig leaf with which to cover the
season's shortcomings.

Star: Carlos Tevez scored a hat-trick as Manchester City cruised into the FA Cup semi-finals

Easy does it: It was a happy day at the office for Man City as they thrashed Barnsley 5-0

City's procession to the semi-finals began when Yaya Toure produced a delightful chip over the defence to Silva.

Instinctively, he prodded the ball
goalwards and though Steele got a hand on it, he could only guide the
shot towards the post.

Make their own fun: A Barnsley fan holds a flare above his head during the quarter-final

Slim chance: David Flitcroft's side were never in the game, with City in no mood for an upset

Precaution: Tevez was taken off to prevent the risk of injury at the Eithad

The deflection fell for the
ever-attentive Tevez to finish from close range. To Barnsley's credit,
15 minutes passed before the second goal was added: Edin Dzeko won the
ball in midfield, released Tevez down the right for the Argentine to
pull back a low cross that Aleksandar Kolarov, sprinting from deep,
finished.

Another four minutes and it was 3-0.
Silva swept the ball out to Kolarov who returned it to the Spaniard in
the box. Silva then cut it back to Tevez, who swivelled, turned and shot
home from six yards.

Barnsley really had little to show
for their first-half endeavours other than a Chris Dagnall header. It
spun wide, bobbling away limply.

It was difficult for even the 6,000
Barnsley fans to become excited. Tevez completed his hat-trick five
minutes into the second half.

Samir Nasri moved easily away from Kelvin Etuhu and pulled the ball back for Tevez, who swept it in from close range.

Poor Barnsley. Wins at Hull and MK
Dons do not replicate the experience of a sustained onslaught from a
billionaire super club. But as City slackened Barnsley became emboldened
with Ryan Tunnicliffe, a Manchester United loanee, sprinting through
for a strike on goal which Costel Pantilimon saved with an outstretched
foot.

Silva, fed by Yaya Toure, produced
his own sprint through the midfield, exchanged passes with Tevez and
though Steele saved his first shot, the rebound fell kindly for the
Spaniard to collect the fifth.

Tevez bowed out soon after and yesterday could not have felt more routine for City.

Safe to say, the subsequent ties in this competition are likely to be somewhat more tense.